Southern IPM blog posts

Funded by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

The Southern Region IPM Center is located at North Carolina State University, 1730 Varsity Drive, Suite 110, Raleigh, NC 27606, and is sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The threat of cattle fever ticks spreading northward into the Southwest U.S. is an issue heavy on the minds of South Texas border region livestock producers, who have been operating under inspection, and in some cases quarantine, protocols imposed by federal and state animal health officials.

The protocols were issued as because of an increase in the number of cattle fever ticks discovered on livestock and wildlife outside the permanent tick eradication quarantine zone on the Texas border.

That permanent zone runs from the tip of Texas north up the Rio Grande for nearly 500 miles of the Texas-Mexico border, averaging in width from a few hundred yards to about 10 miles into the Texas interior. Within the zone, livestock producers have limited movement capability without inspection and paperwork, including treatment records if the animal originated on a temporary quarantine premises.

In addition, regulations requiring livestock producers to treat or immunize their herds on a regular schedule each year has greatly increased the cost of livestock production for South Texas ranchers.

Both state and federal animal health officials argue that while the rules for emergency containment and eradication efforts are costly to both government and producers, it is necessary to implement effective safeguards to prevent the outbreak from spreading.